A 2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers human resource services survey shows that 15 percent more companies use restricted stock than in 2002. Switching from options to restricted stock is not necessarily all that easy to pull off.

The idea of employees spending their entire careers at a single company was mostly derided in the 1990s as an out-of-date concept from a paternalistic corporate past. But with baby boomers nearing retirement and company knowledge more important than ever, long-term employees will become valuable once again.

Disease-management programs are expanding their reach, going beyond the basics like high blood pressure and moving into degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease, as well as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis.